Rotary engine.



'No. 780,640. BATENTED'JAN124, 1905.

' J. CONWAY.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4, 1903.

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Patented January 24, 1905. i

I I JAMES CONWAY, or c'moAeo, ILLINOIS.

ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 780,640, dated January24, 1905. Application filed Noveinber 4,1903. Serial No. 179,758.

10 (ML 1071,0171 it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Litres CONWAY, acitizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and StateofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RotaryEngines, of which the following is a specification.

U The main objects of my invention are to which has been omitted fromthe drawings.

An annular hollow casing': is rotatabl y mounted on the shaft 3. Thecasing 1 consists of two parts, comprising a hollow annular member ordisk 5 and an annular shell 6, rigidly bolted to the member 5. Rigidlysecured to the member 5 are a plurality of cylinders 7 which areradially disposed and arranged in diametrically-opposed pairs. Each ofthe cylinders 7 has sl'idably mounted therein a piston 8, and thepistons of each pair of cylinders are rigidly connected by piston-rods9, which are provided with centrally-disposed yokes 10. The yokes 10have slid ably mounted therein cross-heads 11, which are movabletransversely of said piston-rods and adapted to rotate relatively of thecrank-pins 12 of the crank-shaft, the movement of the pistons thuscausing the rotation of the casing about said crank-shaft. Each of thecylinders is provided with a steam-chest 13, having a slidevalve 14mounted therein and connected with the opposite ends of the cylinders bythe usual steam-passages. The valve-chests communicate, through thelive-steam inlets 15, with a receiving-chamber 16 within the member 5chamber 16 through the hollow end 19 of the shaft 3 and the apertures20. The' interior cavity 18 of the casing 4 forms a steam-jacket for thecylinders 7 and connects with the hollow end 21 of the shaft 3 by meansof aper-' tures 22. The slide-valves 1 1 are operated by eccentrics 23on the crank-shaft 3. Leakage of steam outwardly from thereceivingchamber 16 is prevented -by the stufling-box 2 1, and similarlythe leakage along the other end of the shaft 3 is prevented bystufiingbox 25.

A power-transmitting surface, herein shown as a pulley-rim 26 forreceiving a belt, is rigidly connected to the outer periphery 27 of thecasing 4 by means of the webs 28, thus pro: viding cooling air-spaces30, separating said rim from the parts which come into direct contactwith the exhaust-steam within the casing. The webs 28 are disposed at anangle to the axis of rotation of the engine and serve as vanes forcausing a currentof air to flow between the rim and casing when theengine is running.

The operation of the device shown is as follows: Live steam is admittedto the chamber 16 and then passes into the valve-chests 13 of thecylinders. This causes the pistons to move, and since the crank-shaft isrigidly secured to the supporting-frame, as hereinbefore described, themovement of the pistons I causes the rotation of the casing 4, togetherwith its rim 26. The cranks being diametrically opposite and the pairsof cylinders being at right angles to each other, it will be seen thatthe device cannot stop on dead-center, Theaction of the eccentrics 23causes the valves 14 to reciprocate and alternately connect the oppositeends of the cylinders, respectively, with the live-steam inlet andexhaust ports.

Since the casing is of annular form and the cylinders secured thereinare symmetrically arranged, it will be seen that the weights of thecylinders and easing are balanced, and therefore serve as a fly-wheelfor the engine. The angular arrangement of the webs 28 causesa'continuous current of air to flow over said webs and the rim 26 andprevents excessive heating of the rim.

It will be seen that numerous details of the construction shown may bealtered without departing from the spirit of my invention. I thereforedo not confine myself to such details except as hereinafter limited inthe claims.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an engine, the combination of a fixed crank-shaft; a casingrotatably mounted on said shaft; a plurality of radially-disposedcylinders secured within said casing and rotatable therewith; pistonsslidably mounted in said cylinders and connected with said crankshaft;said casing being adapted to form a steam-jacket surrounding saidcylinders; an outer rim for transmitting power rigidly secured to saidcasing and separated by an airspace from the periphery of said casing;and means for causing a current of air to flow between the rim andcasing through the rotation of the engine, substantially as described.

2. In an engine, the combination of a fixed crank-shaft; a casingrotatably mounted on said shaft; a plurality of radially-disposedcylinders secured within said casing and rotatable therewith; pistonsslidably mounted in said cylinders and connected with said crankshaft;said casing being adapted to form a steam-jacket surrounding saidcylinders; an outer rim for transmitting power rigidly secured to saidcasing and separated by an airspace from the periphery of said casing;and a plurality of vanes secured to the casing and adapted to cause acurrent of air to flow along said rim, substantially as described.

3. In an engine, the combination of a fixed crank-shaft; a casingrotatably mounted on said shaft; a plurality of radially-disposedcylinders secured within said casing and rotatable therewith; pistonsslidably mounted in said cylinders and connected with said crankshaft;said casing being adapted to form a steam-jacket surrounding saidcylinders; an outer rim for transmitting power rigidly secured to saidcasing and separated by an airspace from the periphery of said casing;and a plurality of vanes secured to the casing and disposed at an angleto the axis thereof for causing a current of air to flow between saidrim and easing, substantially as described.

4. In an engine, the combination of a fixed shaft, a casing journaledconcentrically of said shaft; fluid-operated mechanism within the casingfor causing the same to rotate about said shaft; a rim for transmittingpower disposed concentrically of the casing and spaced therefrom; and aplurality of vanes connecting said rim and casing and adapted to cause acurrent of air to flow between the rim and easing, substantially asdescribed.

5. In an engine, the combination of a fixed crank-shaft; a diskjournaled concentrically of said shaft and having rigidly secured to oneface thereof a plurality of radially-disposed cylinders; pistons mountedin the cylinders and connected with said crank-shaft for rotating thedisk; a hollow shell connected with the disk to form an inclosuresurrounding said cylinders, and being removable from the disk withoutdisturbing the connections between said disk and cylinders,substantially as described.

6. In an engine, the combination of a fixed crank-shaft having hollowends; a disk journaled concentrically of said shaft and having thereinan annular cavity communicating with one of the hollow ends of thecrank-shaft; a plurality of radially-disposed cylinders rigidly securedto one face of said disk; a hollow shell connected with said disk toform an inclosure surrounding said cylinders, and being removable fromthe disk without disturbing the connections between said disk andcylinders; inlet-ports connecting the cylinders with the cavity in saiddisk; exhaust-ports connecting the cylinders with the interior of saidshell; and a passage connecting the interior of the shell with the otherend of the hollow shaft, substantially as described.

Signed at Chicago this 2d day of November, 1903.

JAMES CONWAY.

\Vitnesses:

RUDow RUMMLER, EUGENE A. RUMMLER.

